Springhaven: A Tale of the Great War

by R. D. Blackmore

  CHAPTER XVI

  FOX-HILL

  When it was known in this fine old village that young Squire Carne fromforeign parts was come back to live in the ancient castle, there wasmuch larger outlay (both of words and thoughts) about that than aboutany French invasion. "Let them land if they can," said the able-bodiedmen, in discussion of the latter question; "they won't find it so easyto get away again as they seem to put into their reckoning. But theplague of it all is the damage to the fishing."

  Not that the squadron of Captain Tugwell was shorn as yet of its number,though all the young men were under notice to hold themselves ready as"Sea-Fencibles." The injury to their trade lay rather in the difficultyof getting to their fishing-grounds, and in the disturbance of these bycruisers, with little respect for their nets and lines. Again, as thetidings of French preparation waxed more and more outrageous, Zebedeehad as much as he could do to keep all his young hands loyal. All theirsolid interest lay (as he told them every morning) in sticking tothe Springhaven flag--a pair of soles couchant, herring salient,and mackerel regardant, all upon a bright sea-green--rather than inhankering after roll of drum and Union-Jack. What could come of thesebut hardship, want of victuals, wounds, and death; or else to stumpabout on one leg, and hold out a hat for a penny with one arm? They feltthat it was true; they had seen enough of that; it had happened in alltheir own families.

  Yet such is the love of the native land and the yearning to stand infront of it, and such is the hate of being triumphed over by fellows whokiss one another and weep, and such is the tingling of the knuckles fora blow when the body has been kicked in sore places, that the heartwill at last get the better of the head--or at least it used to be soin England. Wherefore Charley Bowles was in arms already against hiscountry's enemies; and Harry Shanks waited for little except a clearproclamation of prize-money; and even young Daniel was tearing at hiskedge like a lively craft riding in a brisk sea-way. He had seen LordNelson, and had spoken to Lord Nelson, and that great man would havepatted him on the head--so patriotic were his sentiments--if the greatman had been a little taller.

  But the one thing that kept Dan Tugwell firm to his moorings atSpringhaven was the deep hold of his steadfast heart in a love which itknew to be hopeless. To die for his country might become a stern duty,about which he would rather not be hurried; but to die for Miss Dollywould be a wild delight; and how could he do it unless he were at hand?And now there were so many young officers again, landing in boats,coming in post-chaises, or charging down the road on horseback, thatDaniel, while touching up the finish of his boat with paint and varnishand Venetian Red, was not so happy as an artist should be who knows howto place the whole. Sometimes, with the paint stirred up and creaming,and the ooze of the brush trimmed warily, through the rushes and ragwortand sea-willow his keen, unconquerable eyes would spy the only figurethat quelled them, faraway, shown against the shining water, or shadowedupon the flat mirror of the sand. But, alas! there was always anotherfigure near it, bigger, bulkier, framed with ugly angles, jerking aboutwith the elbow sticking out, instead of gliding gracefully. Likelyenough the lovely form, brought nearer to the eyes and heart by love,would flit about beautifully for two sweet moments, filling with raptureall the flashes of the sea and calm of the evening sky beyond; and thenthe third moment would be hideous. For the figure of the ungainly foewould stride across the delicious vision, huge against the waves likeCyclops, and like him gesticulant, but unhappily not so single-eyed thatthe slippery fair might despise him. Then away would fly all sense ofart and joy in the touch of perfection, and a very nasty feeling wouldensue, as if nothing were worth living for, and nobody could be believedin.

  That plaguesome Polypheme was Captain Stubbard, begirt with a wife,and endowed with a family almost in excess of benediction, and dancingattendance upon Miss Dolly, too stoutly for his own comfort, in the hopeof procuring for his own Penates something to eat and to sit upon. Someevil genius had whispered, or rather trumpeted, into his ear--for hehad but one left, and that worked very seldom, through alarm about thebullet which had carried off its fellow--that if he desired, as he didwith heart and stomach, to get a clear widening by 200 pounds of hisstrait ways and restricted means, through Admiral Darling it mightbe done, and Miss Dolly was the proper one to make him do it. For theInspectorship of Sea-Fencibles from Selsea-Bill to Dungeness was worthall that money in hard cash yearly; and the late Inspector havingquitted this life--through pork boiled in a copper kettle--the situationwas naturally vacant; and the Admiral being the man for whose check theInspectorship was appointed, it is needless to say that (in the spiritof fair play) the appointment was vested in the Admiral.

  The opinion of all who knew him was that Captain Stubbard was fairlyentitled to look for something higher. And he shared that opinion,taking loftier aim than figures could be made to square with, till thelatter prevailed, as they generally do, because they can work withoutvictuals. For although the brave Captain had lost three ribs--or at anyrate more than he could spare of them (not being a pig)--in the serviceof his country, he required as much as ever to put inside them; andhis children, not having inherited that loss as scientifically asthey should have done, were hard to bring up upon the 15 pounds yearlyallowed by Great Britain for each of the gone bones. From the ear thatwas gone he derived no income, having rashly compounded for 25 pounds.

  In the nature of things, which the names have followed, the father isthe feeder; and the world is full of remarks unless he becomes a goodclothier also. But everything went against this father, with nine littleStubbards running after him, and no ninepence in any of his pockets,because he was shelfed upon half-pay, on account of the depression ofthe times and of his ribs. But Miss Dolly Darling was resolved to seehim righted, for she hated all national meanness.

  "What is the use of having any influence," she asked her good father,"unless you employ it for your own friends? I should be quite ashamedto have it said of me, or thought, that I could get a good thing for anyone I was fond of, and was mean enough not to do it, for fear of paltryjealousy. Mean is much too weak a word; it is downright dishonest, andwhat is much worse, cowardly. What is the government meant for, unlessit is to do good to people?"

  "Certainly, my dear child, certainly. To the people at large, that is tosay, and the higher interests of the country."

  "Can there be any people more at large than Captain Stubbard and hiswife and children? Their elbows are coming out of their clothes, andthey have scarcely got a bed to sleep upon. My income is not enough tostop to count, even when I get it paid punctually. But every farthing Ireceive shall go--that is to say, if it ever does come--into the lap ofMrs. Stubbard, anonymously and respectfully."

  "Pay your bills, first," said the Admiral, taking the weather-gage ofthe discussion: "a little bird tells me that you owe a good trifle, evenin Springhaven."

  "Then the little bird has got a false bill," replied Dolly, who was notvery easy to fluster. "Who is there to spend sixpence with in a littlehole of this kind? I am not a customer for tea, coffee, tobacco, snuff,or pepper, nor even for whiting, soles, or conger. Old Cheeseman importsall the fashions, as he says; but I go by my own judgment. And trumperyas my income is, very little of it goes into his till. But I should liketo know who told you such a wicked story, father?"

  "Things are mentioned in confidence, and I put them together," said theAdmiral. "Don't say another word, or look as if you would be happier ifyou had something to cry about. Your dear mother used to do it; and itbeats me always. I have long had my eye upon Captain Stubbard, and Iremember well that gallant action when his three ribs flew away. Wecalled him Adam, because of his wife coming just when his middle ribwent, and his name was Adam Stubbard, sure enough. Such men, in theprime of their life, should be promoted, instead of being disabled, fora scratch like that. Why, he walks every bit as well as I do, andhis watch-ribbon covers it. And nine children! Lord bless my heart! Iscarcely know which way to turn, with only four!"

  Within a short fortnight Captain
Stubbard was appointed, with anoffice established at the house of Widow Shanks--though his real officenaturally was at the public-house--and Royal Proclamations aroused thevalour of nearly everybody who could read them. Nine little Stubbardssoon were rigged too smart to know themselves, as the style is of alldandies; and even Mrs. Stubbard had a new belt made to go round her,when the weather was elastic.

  "These are the things that prove the eye of an All-wise Providence overus," said the Captain to the Admiral, pointing out six pairs of shortlegs, galligaskined from one roll of cloth; "these are the things thatmake one feel the force of the words of David."

  "Certainly, yes, to be sure!" replied the gallant senior officer, allat sea as to the passage suggested. "Good legs they have got, and nomistake; like the polished corners of the temple. Let them go and dipthem in the sea, while you give the benefit of your opinion here. Nothere, I mean, but upon Fox-hill yonder; if Mrs. Stubbard will spare youfor a couple of hours, most kindly."

  Of the heights that look down with a breezy air upon the snug nest ofSpringhaven, the fairest to see from a distance, and to tread with briskfoot, is Fox-hill. For the downs, which are channelled with the springsthat form the brook, keep this for their own last spring into the air,before bathing in the vigorous composure of the sea. All the other hillsfall back a little, to let Fox-hill have the first choice of aspect--orbear the first brunt, as itself would state the matter. And to anybodycoming up, and ten times to a stranger, this resolute foreland offersmore invitation to go home again, than to come visiting. For the bulgeof the breast is steep, and ribbed with hoops coming up in denial,concrete with chalk, muricated with flint, and thornily crested withgood stout furze. And the forefront of the head, when gained, is stiffwith brambles, and stubbed with sloes, and mitred with a choice band ofstanch sting-nettles.

  "It would take a better Frenchman," said the Admiral, with that brevitywhich is the happy result of stoutness up steep hill, "than any of 'theyflat-bottoms,' as Swipes, my gardener, calls them, to get throughthese prickles, Stubbard, without Sark-blewing. Such a wonderfullythin-skinned lot they are! Did I ever tell you the story of ourboatswain's mate? But that takes a better sailing breeze than I've gotnow. You see where we are, don't you?"

  "Certainly, Admiral," replied Captain Stubbard, disdaining to lay handto his injured side, painfully as it yearned for pressure; "we have hada long pull, and we get a fine outlook over the country for leagues, andthe Channel. How close at hand everything looks! I suppose we shall haverain, and we want it. I could thump that old castle among the trees intosmash, and your church looks as if I could put a shot with a rifle-guninto the bell-chamber."

  "And so you could. What I want to show you is that very point, andthe importance of it. With a battery of long twenty-fours up here, thelanding, the bay, and all the roads are at our mercy. My dear old friendNelson drew my attention to it."

  "It is plain as a pikestaff to Tom, Dick, or Harry:" Captain Stubbardwas a frank, straightforward man, and much as he owed to the Admiral'said, not a farthing would he pay in flattery. "But why should we want tocommand this spot? There is nothing to protect but a few common houses,and some half-score of fishing-craft, and a schooner that trades toLondon, and yonder old church, and--oh yes, to be sure, your own houseand property, Admiral."

  "Those must take their chance, like others. I hope I know better than tothink of them in comparison with the good of the country. But if we failto occupy this important post, the enemy might take us by surprise, anddo so."

  "Possible, but most improbable. This little place lies, by the trend ofthe coast, quite out of their course from Boulogne to London; and whatis there here to tempt them? No rich town to sack, no great commerce torob, no valuable shipping to lay hands on."

  "No; but there's my house and my two girls; and I don't want my oldroof burned, and my daughters put to wait on Boney. But to think ofself-interest is below contempt, with our country going through suchtrials. Neither should we add any needless expense to a treasury alreadyoverburdened."

  "Certainly not. It would be absolutely wicked. We have a long and costlywar before us, and not a shilling should be spent except in case ofclear necessity."

  "I am very glad indeed to find your opinion so decided, so untaintedwith petty self-interest." As Admiral Darling spoke he closed a littlesilver telescope, with which he had been gazing through the woodedcoronet of the hill. "I thought it my duty to consult you, Stubbard,before despatching this letter, which, being backed by Nelson's opinion,would probably have received attention. If a strong battery were thrownup here, as it would be in a fortnight from the receipt of this bit offoolscap, the appointment of commandant would rest with me, and I couldappoint nobody but your good self, because of your well-known experiencein earthworks. The appointment would have doubled your present pay,which, though better than nothing, is far below your merits. But youropinion settles the question otherwise, and I must burn my letter. Letus lose no more time. Mrs. Stubbard will call me a savage, for keepingyou away so long."

  "Important business," replied the Captain, "will not wait even forladies, or, rather, they must try to wait for it, and give way to morereasonable urgency. Some time is required for considering this matter,and deciding what is most for the interest of the nation. Oblige me withyour spy-glass, Admiral. There is one side on which I have neglectedto look out, and that may of all be the most important. A conclusionarrived at by yourself and Nelson is not to be hastily set aside. Yourknowledge of the country is so far beyond mine, though I may havehad more to do with land-works. We ought to think twice, sir, if thegovernment will pay for it, about a valuable job of this kind."

  With these words Captain Stubbard began to use the telescope carefully,forming his opinion through it, and wisely shaking his head, now andthen, with a longer and longer focus. Then he closed the glass, and hisown lips firmly--whereby a man announces that no other should open hisagainst them--and sternly striding the yard exact, took measurement forthe battery. The hill was crowned with a ring of Scotch firs, castinga quiet shade upon the warlike haste of the Captain. If Admiral Darlingsmiled, it was to the landscape and the offing, for he knew thatStubbard was of rather touchy fibre, and relished no jokes unless ofhome production. His slow, solid face was enough to show this, and thesquareness of his outline, and the forward thrust of his knees as hewalked, and the larkspur impress of his lingering heels. And he seldomsaid much, without something to say.

  "Well," cried the Admiral, growing tired of sitting so long upon afallen trunk, "what conclusion do you feel inclined to come to? 'Tisa fine breezy place to clear the brain, and a briny air to sharpen thejudgment."

  "Only one tree need come down--this crooked one at the southeastcorner." Captain Stubbard began to swing his arms about, like a windmilluncertain of the wind. "All gentlemen hate to have a tree cut down,all blackguards delight in the process. Admiral, we will not hurtyour trees. They will add to our strength, by masking it. Six longtwenty-fours of the new make, here in front, and two eighteens uponeither flank, and I should like to see the whole of the Boulogneflotilla try to take yonder shore by daylight. That is to say, ofcourse, if I commanded, with good old salts to second me. Withyour common artillery officers, landlubbers, smell-the-wicks,cross-the-braces sons of guns, there had better not be anything at allput up. They can't make a fortification; and when they have made it,they can't work it. Admiral Darling, you know that, though you have nothad the bad luck to deal with them as I have. I may thank one of themfor being up here on the shelf."

  "Of one thing you may be quite certain," replied the commander of thesea defence; "if we have any battery on this Fox-hill, it shall beconstructed and manned by blue-jackets. I have a large draft of them nowat discretion. Every man in Springhaven will lend a hand, if paid forit. It would take at least a twelvemonth to get it done from Woolwich. Aseaman does a thing before a landsman thinks about it."